EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Our war was merely one step in his plan." Meesei explained. "As we suspected before, Vile intended to harvest us for the power our souls provide. Due to the presence of our beast spirit, our souls are more powerful than most. Vile's followers intentionally spread lycanthropy to over the years so that there would be more lycans in Tamriel. Then, he provoked us to war, encouraged us to collect close together in large clans to fight back against his followers. Finally, they were going to use the soul tearing gas to harvest us all at once, and our souls with us. They would have completed the soul-tearing gas much sooner, had we not halted their production of suppression has early on. Had we not been able to fight back more effectively than he anticipated, he would have had the power of many thousands of lycan souls to help him finish the next part of his plan. We do not know the specifics of how he intends to destroy the towers, but he has moved on to other means of achieving his goals. As we have been well aware over the past year or so, Vile's efforts to fight us have dwindled. Their attacks have slowed, because only those who are disobeying his orders are attacking us."

Meesei paused and let out a quick breath. She was not entirely sure how some members of the council would take what she was about to say. "Essentially, Vile no longer wants to fight us. The war is over, as he sees it. We have proved to be more trouble than we are worth. He is now targeting Talos worshipers. Talos, while not a 'Tower' himself, has come to serve a similar function to the towers I just described. He strengthens Convention, so Vile's zealots have began targeting them, just as the Thalmor target them. The Thalmor, you see, also wish to bring an end to Mundus. That is, of course, knowledge that is reserved only for their highest leadership. They believe that it will help them return to divinity, though fortunately, they do not trust Vile. According to Areldril, they believe that Vile intends to use the destruction of the Towers to his own advantage. Perhaps absorb Mundus into his realm. It is uncertain, but the Thalmor do not wish to end the world on Vile's terms, so they are less of an immediate threat than he is."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei shook her head lightly at Oswall. “The Dominion is a nation, and the residence of a third of our clans, Oswall. Those ‘currs’ are just as much our people as anyone in the Empire. The Thalmor, however…they may be a concern for lycans and Dominion citizens alike in the far future. But the focus of this meeting is on Vile. I will explain.”

Meesei took a moment to lay out a few of Areldril’s notes in front of her. “As you know, we coordinated with the Thalmor to locate one of the Thalmor’s leadership who had gone rogue, Areldril. We believed him to be allied with Vile, but that was not the case. He fled the Dominion carrying information that proves some disturbing revelations. Dating all the way back to the Metheric era, perhaps even before, there were Towers created in Tamriel. Physical structures in the world that hold an almost unimaginable level of power over the fabric of Mundus. Without a strong scholarly background, you may not be aware of them, but they are quite real. These towers include the Adamantine Tower in High Rock, Red Mountain, the White-Gold Tower, the Numidium, Crystal-Like-Law, Orichalc Tower, Green-Sap, and Snow Throat. Through the millennia, all but one or two of these Towers have been deactivated or destroyed. Should the Towers fall, the barriers protecting Mundus from Oblivion will dissolve, and Mundus itself will cease to exist as we know it. That is Vile’s ultimate goal.”

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

With their plans set, the pack did not have any reason to remain in Bravil. Perhaps mercifully to Fendros, they also did not have time for his training with Sabine before they left the city, and they would need to call a meeting with Meesei's council as soon as they got back to Blackreach. Although, Meesei had also made a point to mention to Fendros that she would join in on their next practice session after the meeting. Naturally, the pack parted ways with Marod and Lunise, but the ring that Meesei had left with Lunise meant that she expected to see her again quite soon.

The pack had to walk for about twenty minutes before Meesei found a spot that she judged to be far enough from the city to be able to safely create her portal. Meesei's pack was aware that she had learned to create portals on her own, without a propylon chamber, though it was quite a recent advancement for her, so it was the first time they had all used one of her portals to bring them any significant distance. Meesei quickly found that she required Sabine's help to keep the portal open long enough to bring the entire pack through, particularly with Leaps present, but they were able to get through to Blackreach quickly.

In order to avoid surprising any of the residents of the Silent City, Meesei had taken them to a place a short distance from the city that was out of sight. Meesei herself went straight to assembling the leadership for a meeting, while the rest of the pack dealt with their belongings, as well as Leaps and the children.

---

It took longer for the council to assemble in the meeting chamber than it did for Meesei to take the pack to Blackreach from Bravil. Meesei had Areldril's rather extensive report that he had written, though there of course had not been time to make copies of it, so she would just use it as a reference for herself so she could brief her council on the situation.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Since Lunise now has that ring, I'm ready to do a skip to a quick meeting in Blackreach, if you'd like.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei gave a light chuckle. "Hmm, I think you might be even more optimistic than me. I will not go into the many, core differences between the situations of lycanthropes and Orcs, but...I do appreciate hope. If we can attain even a fraction of what we are hoping for, it might be enough."

After another quick kiss, Meesei rolled herself over on top of Lunise with an ear-to-ear grin. She had both of her hands on Lunise's shoulders as she leaned down for a much longer kiss. Pulling her head back up, she flicked her tail to the side, calling attention to it. "I do have to wonder what that would be like, lycans living alongside non-infected mortals. You would have the pleasure of seeing many more beautiful, bare-scaled Argonians, I would say."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei was quite obviously sympathetic, and she did her best to show it. Lunise seemed to be reluctant to look at Meesei, so she decided to make it impossible for Lunise to ignore the comfort she wanted to give her. Meesei laid herself close beside Lunise and gently turned her head so that Meesei could press her own forehead against hers. "Even a strong paralysis spell can be resisted by a willful enough individual, and werewolves have quite a lot of strength to drain. Neither of those could have been guaranteed to protect you when a werewolf was immediately upon you. A single swipe of a werewolf's claws, when well placed, can easily cause a fatal amount of bleeding. You reacted the way you did for a reason, and you cannot be faulted for it. I will not lie to you and try to say that it was the best approach to threaten them beforehand, but it sounds like you did not know as much about lycans at that time. Fear of exposure is a constant and very dangerous threat for us, so...his reaction also does not surprise me. I have no doubt you know that now. It sounds like a terrible situation all-around, and you have my sympathy for having to go through it."

Meesei let out a sigh. "I wish...we could spread the word of our clans to lycans more effectively. Together, we are the largest organization for lycans in Tamriel, perhaps the largest in history. We provide the safest life for our people, but for those who our scouts do not find, we may as well not exist. We are a well-kept secret by necessity. I have to wonder how lycan hunters would feel if they knew how much worse they were making Tamriel's 'lycan problem.' If we could operate openly, there would not be feral lycans killing travelers and farmers in the wilderness. There would not be desperate lycans willing to commit murder to protect their secret. With Imperial and Dominion protection, Vile's forces could not hope to assault our clans. Their forces are meager next to the might of those nations. But fear makes that reality just a dream." She said, showing obvious passion on the subject.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Yeah, it's on my dresser. It was too big for the frame I had.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Well, the definition of feral can be muddy at times. Those who live on their own, I would rarely consider to be safe, unless they have been in a pack before." Meesei responded, her voice remaining just as soft and supportive as it had been. "Even besides that, lycans and non-lycans have met one another with violence for as long as we have existed. Fearing a physically superior beast with no guarantee of mental control is natural, so some take it to the extreme of wanting to eradicate us entirely. And it is not as if every lycan is a paragon of morality, even without the influence of their beast. With as many lycans as we have in our clans, there are some troublemakers. Like any civilization, really."

Although Lunise could not see from her angle, Meesei started to grin as she brought her massage lower down her back, until it was not on her back at all. "You need not worry. I am not going to judge you for past violence against lycans. My kind are as varied as any other, perhaps moreso. Some are upstanding citizens, and some deserve no less than death. Just like some Altmer might become bandits, and some might be stunningly gorgeous champions of their people."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

No, my diploma is sitting behind me. I'm working from home for the summer.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Congrats on the graduation. I know it is nice to know that is out of the way, especially when you already have plans going forward.